Victory.

          It is not very often that a group involved in self help and community mutual aid, that has been harassed, intimidate told by the city council that what they are doing is illegal and threatened with court action, finds itself in court and after a seven year battle wins and receives damages from the city council. Fort Lauderdale council, done its best to stop Food Not Bombs, by all manner of threats and intimidation from handing out food to those in need. Congratulations to Food Not Bombs for their persistent and courageous fight against the power of the state and gaining a tremendous victory. Hope this is an inspiration to all those other groups and individual intent in facing down the state and trying to make this world a better place for all. The vindictive inhumanity and cruelty of the state knows no bounds, and it is encouraging to see its crass inhumanity get a kick up the backside.

The following from Anarchist News:

           It took seven years, but FTL FNB’s federal civil liberties lawsuit against Fort Lauderdale for banning food sharings is finally concluding. After we won our 2nd appeal in August 2021, the City has accepted a settlement that admits they were wrong to enforce the Park Rule against us and will pay us a small amount of damages. They will also have to pay our lawyers a great deal more!
          These results are on top of the victories this lawsuit already accomplished in years’ prior, including the 2018 appeals ruling that ruled that the original sharing ban law was unconstitutional – and creating a strongly worded precedent about sharing food as protected free speech.
         So anyways we would like to say: FUCK YEAH! We had to bite our tongues a lot over the years to see how this would play out, but no more. We out-lived and out-maneuvered the old Mayor, City Manager, and City Attorney, who were all intent on policing us and the homeless out of existence. Fuck them! Let’s not forget multiple FLPD Chiefs and Captains who sent their goons to stalk and arrest us, all gone now! Nuts to all the narrow-minded fools who wanted to be rid of us.
        And while we struggled to keep FNB going, we did so much more along the way – actions, workshops, fundraisers and so on. We’re honored to have an impact in the courts and the streets over the years.
         One downside to running such a long campaign was our friends that didn’t live to see the end. Presente our dear friend and volunteer David Bambi Hitchcock, and Gonzalo Vizcardo, also a volunteer from a long time ago, and our supporters Sylvie, Bob Bender, Jack Lieberman, and Daniel.
         We deeply appreciate the contributions of all our volunteers and allies over the years.
        All thanks to our lawyers – Mara Shlackman, perhaps the only person who could’ve ever made any of this possible, and Kirsten Anderson, Andrea Costello, and Jodi Siegel of Southern Legal Counsel.
       For the other Food Not Bombses out there – y’all are going to accomplish great things! Don’t give up!
       Finally we’d like to say – Let’s fuck shit up in 2022 – ‘cuz everything’s scary and nothing’s gonna change unless we make it! The people are hungry!

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info      

Hypocrisy And Crocodile Tears.

        Our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, is all a flutter, shouting “outrage”, “despicable” “savagery turned loose”, and filling papers and TV time with the alleged murder of journalist,  Jamal Khashoggi. Yes, if true, this is a despicable act, though not the worst act carried out by any state, and should be condemned. However, the coverage, to me seems out of all proportion when compared to the vicious, brutal, savage acts carried out by states across the globe. Where is the “outrage”, “despicable” “savagery turned loose” regarding the unbelievable brutality that is happening in Yemen? Where are the reams of paper, the hours of TV coverage on what is turning out to be the worst humanitarian crisis since the second world war. A country being reduced to conditions beyond belief, famine, cholera, daily mounting deaths, maimed and displaced millions. Men, women, elderly and children being encapsulated in unbelievable brutality on a daily basis. All this with the blessing of the imperialist West, it couldn’t happen without the arms from the UK and the US. We pile in the latest weapons of mass destruction into the hands of a medieval, autocratic, dictatorial, brutal regime and turn our eyes away from how they are used. Because it is good for business, large profits can be made from fostering this type of savagery.

        Nor is there much coverage of the Philippine psychopath Duterte’s war on drugs, being floated under the euphemism of “Philippine Drug War” known also as “Operation Double Barrel”. Nothing more than a vicious operation to silence dissent and intimidate the population, giving a free hand to the state minders to beat, terrorise, and kill at will.
       On these matters our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media barely raise an eyebrow, these items of savagery don’t fit their propaganda script. 

On the Philippines, this from Freedom News: 

 

 

  World, Oct 18th
        As most of you probably heard, Philippines’ president Rodrigo Duterte, who assumed office in July 2016, had launched the “Philippine Drug War” known also as “Operation Double Barrel”. The disgraceful campaign aims at “the neutralization of illegal drug personalities nationwide”.
      The policy gave a green light to cops to routinely execute drug suspects and then plant guns and drugs on them. What’s more, there is evidence that the police is using hospitals to hide their killings. Duterte also urged the citizens of Philippines to lynch suspected drug addicts and criminals.
     In Summer 2018, four Food Not Bombs volunteers have been killed, and one has been framed for drug possession and is in jail awaiting trial. The families and friends of the victims believe that both the murders and the arrest are the result of Duterte’s war on drugs.

The four murdered activists are:

Chris Jose Eleazar (aka Mokiam)
Food Not Bombs Bukidnon/Davao volunteer
Born: Nov.17, 1990 Killed: Sept. 15, 2018

Jan Ray Patindol (aka Pating)
Food Not Bombs Davao volunteer
Born: January 2, 1989 Killed: Sep.15,2018

Jessie Villanueva De Guzman
Food Not Bombs Baliwag Volunteer
Born: June 2,1990 Killed: July 6, 2018

Patrick Paul Pile
Food Not Bombs Baliwag Volunteer
Born: December 10, 1988 Killed: July 23,2018
      Chris Jose Eleazar and Jan Ray Patindol were tortured and killed during a police raid on the home of a Food Not Bombs volunteer on in September 2018. Their bodies were covered with cigarette burns and bruises. The police claim that they “fought back”, however, the victims’ friends said the two did not resist and that the wounds on their bodies indicated that the two young men were tortured.
      Jessie Villanueva De Guzman and Patrick Paul Pile were murdered in separate incidents in July 2018. They were very active members of Food Not Bombs Baliwag. Both made their living as night-time tricycle drivers.
      Jessie was killed by the police in Baliwag, Bulacan. A week after his murder, Patrick took a passenger on his tricycle. At the end of the agreed route, a group of police were waiting. Patrick was killed by one gun shot to his back. He is one of many tricycle riders killed in similar way.
      In all four cases, the police claimed that the victims were killed during “legitimate operations” and that they resisted arrest and “fought back.
       In August 2018 in the municipality of Bantayan, Cebu, a Food Not Bombs volunteer Marco was arrested and is awaiting trial after apparently being framed for drug possession. Marco is a long standing activist: he initiated the Food Not Bombs project in Bantayan.
       He is enduring hellish conditions in prison. Despite of the political situation in the country, his supporters would like to do anything it takes for Marco to get a fair trial in what they know first hand is a corrupt state.
      In a crowdfunder website created to help Marco fight his charges, Food not Bombs organiser Chris writes: “A kind person called Marco (Cram) who I met on a quiet island called Bantayan to the north of Cebu was arrested in early August for allegedly using and selling drugs. During this arrest a packet was planted on him. He is innocent of the charges. It seems that he was set-up and if left unaided will become just another jail statistic.”
      Human rights organisations estimate that up to date, Operation Double Barrel lead to the death of more than 12 thousand people. In the first year, the victims included 54 children. Lawyers who defended drug suspects have also been targeted.
      The Amnesty International report from January 2017 details “how the police have systematically targeted mostly poor and defenceless people across the country while planting ‘evidence’, recruiting paid killers, stealing from the people they kill and fabricating official incident reports.” In the report, AI expressed deep concern “that the deliberate, widespread and systematic killings of alleged drug offenders, which appear to be planned and organized by the authorities, may constitute crimes against humanity under international law.”

You can support Marco’s campaign here.

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk